Our Universe expands
and contracts
like tides on a beach
while we hunger,
sense, sleep, search;
Exchanging Symbols
on a hunk of blue
shining bright through the cosmos
from water, air and sun
but named Earth
for the dirt
we cling to...
while waves wash worlds.

27 Feb 2011

The jester sits on a comfortable couch while Bar Karma explores the Western notion of a jihadi's suicidal desires on a flat screen against the far wall.

They were definitely not anti Jesus. They were definitely not evangelical, either.

They picked up a mildly tattered, well-worn and clay colored hardcover book sitting on the small table to their right. Outline Analysis of the Books of the Bible by Prof. Barnard C. Taylor, published 1892. He had signed it on the first page in the upper right corner, in pencil.

They opened to their name~page, which they had dog-eared in the upper right corner the night before. Page 86 read,

"1. Author-Joel. nothing is known of him apart from his prophecy.
2. Date-Probably about 870 B.C. though some place the book later. The prophet himself does not say when he wrote.
3. Historical Occasion- An invasion of locusts, accompanied by a drought, sent as a punishment from God for the sins of the people.
4. Place- Joel belonged to the kingdom of Judah. The prophecy was probably delivered in the temple court.
5. Leading Topic- An invasion of locusts is described as a reason for national repentance before God, in order that a worse calamity might be averted. The prophet then predicts God's blessings upon the righteous and his punishment of the wicked.
6. Chief Purpose- To show the necessity of God's people remaining faithful to him; his readiness to forgive when they repent; and his purpose to defend them from their enemies.
7. General Analysis- Part I. A call to repentance in order to avert a calamity, Ch 1-2:17. Part II. Blessings promised to God's people, including the overthrow of the wicked, Ch. 2:18-3.
8. Points of Especial Interest.- The devastation by locusts; the national fast; the merciful character of God; the gift of the Spirit; the "day of the Lord;" the day of judgement; God to dwell among his people.
9. Special Sins Condemned.- Of Judah: none are mentioned, but a departure from God seems to be implied. Of the Gentiles: the buying and selling of Israelites.
10. National Hopes Presented.- A time of spirituality to be secured; God's people to be restored to a position of pre-eminence over their enemies, to be abundantly blessed, and God to be with them.
11. Messianic Ideas.- The gift of God's spirit, the subjection of the enemies of God's people, the reconciliation of God and man, were to be realized only in connection with the coming of Christ.
12. Relation to Other O.T. Books.-This book belongs to the beginning of the prophetic writings, its theme furnishes the topic for much of the discussion by later prophets; they treat specially what Joel gives in a general way.
13. Topics for Special Study.-Devastation by locusts; the practice of selling captives in early times; the history of Greece at this time."

Amos was next but they put the book down, pulled out their iTouch and searched for a specific song about locusts eating banana flesh. They didn't remember anything except the original band's name, The Ethiopians. This one was the first to catch their eye...

26 Feb 2011

I usually toss pennies onto the sidewalk or parking lot asphalt because I believe the personal cost is outweighed by the joy that people often feel when they find a heads up coin. Today I found a digital nickel.

Today I bought some tobacco and received one cent and a nickel as change.

The penny was a 1946 "wheat cent" in decent condition, I left it in the little plastic dish on the store counter.

The New Bush Cartel pennies are much shinier and uglier, with their Captain America shields on them.

1Lx6eNgi3i9E39bQHPY5HLLYjxzgyQYwZn

It lacks the luster of copper...

and the bling of cash...

but if it helps bring down the wealthy white collar corporate warmonger thieves

Satoshi Nakamoto is the founder of Bitcoin and initial author of the Original Bitcoin client. He has said in a p2p foundation profile[1] that he is from Japan. Beyond that, not much is known about him. He has been working on Bitcoin for more than two years.[2]

Contents

Possible Motives

He left some clues about why he is doing this project with the inclusion of the following text in the Genesis block, "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks".
Some interesting quotes:

Yes, [we will not find a solution to political problems in cryptography,] but we can win a major battle in the arms race and gain a new territory of freedom for several years.
Governments are good at cutting off the heads of a centrally controlled networks like Napster, but pure P2P networks like Gnutella and Tor seem to be holding their own.[3]

It's very attractive to the libertarian viewpoint if we can explain it properly. I'm better with code than with words though. [4]

Possible identity

His identity and nationality are unknown. The few bits of information available[1] about him point to Japan, he never wrote a single line of Japanese, the Bitcoin client has no Japanese version and there is no Japanese page on bitcoin.org.
He is entirely unknown outside of Bitcoin as far as anyone can tell, and his PGP key was created just months prior to the date of the genesis block. He seems to be very familiar with the cryptography mailing list, but there are no non-Bitcoin posts from him on it. He has used an email address from an anonymous mail hosting service (vistomail) as well as one from a free webmail account (gmx.com) and sends mail when connected via Tor. Some have speculated that his entire identity was created in advance in order to protect himself or the network. Perhaps he chose the name Satoshi because it can mean "wisdom" or "reason".

For the first time in our history
there is "public" debate
(via newsprint and broadcast news sources)

of ongoing digital warfare, including tactical analysis and strategic operations

complemented via the web universe with

video and image files, twitter accounts, blogs, viruses

and Comment Sections.

Real-time consequences of the War on Terrorism provoked by the Bush Cartel and the attack of September 11, 200and i forget.

Perhaps the Rootkit virus or XerXes attack we suffered that day extends to the fact that our comfort level with "public" exposure to informational security has been completely obliterated by PATRIOT Acts, and HBGary Corporate shills.

But the war rages on.

Maybe the "Hacktivists" really are as "guilty" as the targets of their shows of force.

Maybe the U.S.A. is attempting to discover the limits of what can be Free instead of the possibilities.

Baba Ram Dass said that hippies create police just as police create hippies.